Parent Bulletin 8th June

I have been hugely impressed by the diligence of pupils in starting their revision for summer exams over the half-term.  All the evidence is really clear that we haven't properly learned something until we have revised it several times and replicated it long after the first time we learn it - so please do encourage your children to put lots of effort into revising for the upcoming exams: it won't just help with their confidence now but will also help them remember what they have learned when it comes to their real GCSEs.

Exams will kick off for Y7-9 next Monday (16th June) and for Y10 next Friday (20th June).  Timetables have been issued to pupils and are replicated below:

I have never seen pupils so well prepared for school exams and I am hugely grateful to all parents for the support you are providing to your children to enable them to excel.

I look forward to seeing pupils by 8.25 tomorrow for the final push!

Enjoy the remainder of the weekend,

Kind regards,

Mr Neuberger

It was an exciting week for a number of our students who got to take part in a STEM careers trip to Heathrow Airport on Monday. This day was full of opportunities such as eating lunch below a Concorde and getting to sit in the cockpit of a plane. Below is a report of the day from Mel Abedian (9 Alexander): 

"On Monday 2nd June, 29 students and I had the amazing opportunity to go on an engineering trip to Heathrow Airport to learn about the many different parts of the aviation industry. It was a fantastic experience where I gained loads of knowledge that I know will help me in the future. Not only did I get a glimpse into the incredibly complex world of engineering, but I also discovered just how many different career paths exist within it. For example, I never would’ve guessed how much thought and design goes into something as simple as an armrest. After speaking to the team behind a 3D printing company working in aerospace, I learned all about the process of “overengineering” small parts to meet exact standards—and it was way more interesting than it sounds!

From learning about the pros and cons of large-scale injection moulding to hearing how billions are spent on aircraft repairs every year, I found that just asking one question often led to learning loads more. My friends and I also got to speak with professionals about apprenticeships and university degrees, which gave us real insight into what’s possible after school. The trip definitely didn’t feel like the first day back after half-term—we even had lunch under a real Concorde! There were so many fun ways to challenge our thinking, like using flight simulators in real cockpit replicas and trying out VR headsets. It was honestly my favourite trip so far at Ark Soane, and I’m pretty sure my classmates would agree!" 

This week was also the start of the countdown to exams, and students across the years have been showing their hard work and pouring in their revision. 8 Ramesses' famous revision pile is back and growing rapidly, and the race is on to see which form will produce the most work in time for the exams. 

Finally, 7 Ramesses smashed their environmental presentations this week, with all students giving speeches in front of the class. Mr Hanna was so impressed with the level of confidence and bravery shown by all the pupils. 

Year 10 were greeted to an inquisitive and thought-provoking talk from the author, historian, and mathematician Rob Eastaway. His talk, titled 'Much Ado About Numbers', explored the mathematical aspects of Shakespeare - a highly unusual and exciting combination of topics! Rob's talk was a testament to the fact that 'readers are leaders' - here's hoping this inspired some future authors amongst the year group. 

On Thur 3rd July we will be hosting our second Summer Fete. This will be a wonderful celebration for our community, with stalls, food, music, and activities. We will be fundraising for Ealing Foodbank at the event.

We have a small number of slots available for food stalls – if you would like to run a table, please let us know by completing this MS Form: https://forms.office.com/e/HwYAKe0Byj. Please be aware there will be no access to electricity at the stalls.

We will be in touch if we are able to host your stall. Please note that we may not be able to take all offers to run a stall, for example if there are multiple offers for a similar stall. 

If you need face-to-face assistance then the school office is open during term-time from 8am-4pm. So that we can deal with email enquiries promptly please see the school email addresses below:

• General Enquiries – info@arksoane.org
• Attendance - absence@arksoane.org
• Free School Meals - fsm@arksoane.org